Brian Moore's Cold Heaven proves that a novel can be magnificent even while its central idea remains incredible….

The book is magnificent in a technical sense: the writing (as always with Moore) is beautifully clear; the handling of suspense is masterly; motifs of blue sky and mist, lightning and thunder, serve succinctly both as thriller-like cues and as central poetic symbols. There is lightish relief—such as the worldly Monsignor ('God's golfer') who signs off with his 'Have a nice day'—but this is still vital to the plot. And the pattern of ideas is tight-knit and ambitious without being overbearing: religion and common sense; miracle and medical science; God's commands and free will; marriage and adultery.

The novel remains incredible, to this reader, because Moore—or at least his text—does seem to endorse the supernatural version of the events within it; no room for a non-supernatural...